Arcade Fire Return with New Songs, Interview; Album to Come

After making a big splash with its first two albums, "Funeral" and "Neon Bible," Montreal band Arcade Fire is preparing for the release of its third album, "The Suburbs." Two songs from it, the title track and "Month of May," have been previewed online since their release last week and digital versions can be bought online from the Arcade Fire website.

The album "The Suburbs" will be released on August 3rd in the U.S. and Canada. It's available for pre-order now in a variety of formats from the band's website.

You can listen to the two new Arcade Fire songs free on NPR Music, and also hear a chat they did with Arcade Fire's Win and Will Butler. (You can stream the chat online or download it.)

You can learn more about the album at www.mergerecords.com/thesuburbs, and find the latest Arcade Fire tour dates as well (not many so far; a bunch in Europe, a couple in Canada, and Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 8th).

Rolling Stones Classic "Exile on Main Street" Gets Reissue; Hear It Online Free

The Rolling Stones have gotten into the reissue business, last week reissuing its 1972 classic "Exile on Main Street." According to an article in Billboard, "Exile" is the first Stones album to be released in this latest series of reissues of the band's extensive catalog. 

The remastered "Exile on Main Street" is available in a number of configurations, including the original 18-track set and a deluxe edition that includes 10 additional tracks. Billboard is offering free streaming of the remastered "Exile on Main Street" (the 18-track version) at this link.

Don Was, who has long been a producer for the Rolling Stones, was in charge of the "Exile" reissue, which meant not only cleaning up and improving the existing tracks but going through the extra tracks on the old master recordings and identifying unknown gems and alternate takes worthy of inclusion on the reissue.

You can hear a 35-minute interview with Don Was about the "Exile on Main Street" project and hear some of the previously unreleased tracks at NPR Music.

"Lost" Series Finale: Reviews, Analysis, Comments, Reactions, and More

"Lost" is over, but the discussion and analysis has just begun. Sunday's mind-bending "Lost" series finale created more questions than it answered, with many fans loving it, others hating it, and still others scratching their heads.

To supply your own comments, and here what other fans think, I recommend checking out the latest episode of "The Transmission," the excellent "Lost" podcast by Ryan and Jen Ozawa in Hawaii (as I mentioned in my previous post on the "Lost" series finale), which the podcasters recorded not long after the finale aired. There are more than a thousand comment on their blog post for that podcast episode.

Also check out Jay and Jack's "Lost" podcast, which should be up on Wednesday (the two hosted a "Lost" finale viewing party in Los Angeles on Sunday, so apparently were not recording their usual night-of podcast).

To see what the press thought of the "Lost" series finale, here's a roundup of reports from the Web:
* Entertainment Weekly's Jeff "Doc" Jensen has an extensive recap of of the "Lost" season finale, in two parts. See his "Lost" finale recap, part one and "Lost" finale recap, part two
* A brief MTV.com article says that "Big questions [were] answered in series finale," but notes that "In typical "Lost" fashion, some show mysteries remain open for debate"
* In the L.A. Times, Maria Elena Fernandez says that the "'Lost' finale creates islands of thought", but that paper's TV critic Mary McNamara was less impressed, remarking that "Lost" was "nothing more or less than a love story"
* AP TV columnist Frazier Moore says "'Lost" addresses years of questions in finale"
* USA Today's review says of the "Lost" finale, "Redemption as 'The End' justifies the journey"
* Over at the New York Times, the Artsbeat blog found the "Lost" finale "gauzy, vaguely religious, more than a little mawkish"
* Newsweek says the episode "encapsulated the show's essence," writing that, "The 'Lost' finale will cause endless debate. In that way, it was a perfect encapsulation for the entire series"
* Time's Tuned In blog offers a lengthy review of "The End," calling it "a moving, soulful finale"

And for some interesting articles on "Lost" that don't necessarily have to do with the series finale:
* Wired.com takes a fascinating look at various aspects of creating "Lost" and making it work, from the mysteries of The Island to a map of the links between the key characters, from how Geronimo Jackson was brought to life to the "continuity czar" who kept "Lost"'s characters, and chronology, on track
* MTV.com notes that "Lost" creators promise to give more answers to the show's questions in a 20-minute segment on a DVD bonus feature (the "Lost" Season 6 DVD comes out in August)
* Paste Magazine has an article on the literary inspirations for the show, looking at "Eight books that have influenced the island"
* The blog Stories in My Pocket offers a humorous list of "Lost" spin-offs they'd most like to see

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Stone Temple Pilots, The Cure, Ratatat, Tift Merritt, Widespread Panic, More

Here are some new and upcoming CDs that are streaming for free as of now. The NPR First Listen series has specific dates for which free streaming is available; Spinner and AOL don't, as far as I can tell.

Spinner.com's listening party: 
* "Stone Temple Pilots" by Stone Temple Pilots
* "Crystal Castles II" by Crystal Castles
* "Disintegration: Deluxe Edition" by The Cure
* "Flip and Twist" by Toots and the Maytals
* "See You on the Moon" by Tift Merritt
* "Dirty Side Down" by Widespread Panic
* "In Person and On Stage" by John Prine

AOL Music listening party:
* "Ultra Weekend 6" by various artists (party hits and remixes by Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez & the Scene, Britney Spears, LFMAO, Deadmau5, and more)

NPR Music's First Listen:

* "Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook" by Bettye LaVette (avail. May 17 - 25)

* "Wake Up The Nation" by Paul Weller (avail. May 24 - June 1)

* "LP4" by Ratatat (avail. May 24 - June 8)

"Lost" Finale: Show Ends Tonight; Podcasts to Go On

The "Lost" finale will mark the end of the wildly popular TV show tonight, and many fans will be left wondering what to do with themselves once it ends. Fortunately, two (and maybe more) of the long-running podcasts devoted to the show will be continuing, at least for a little while. This is good news for "Lost" fans, especially those who (like me) really enjoy the work of these podcasters.

"The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack," featuring the father-and-son team of Jay and Jack Glatfelter, is planning on doing "Lost" podcasts for the indefinite future with "re-watch" podcasts devoted to reviewing previous seasons of the show. Fans of Jay and Jack will also be able to hear one or another of the duo and its friends on shows including "The Jay and Jack Podcast" and "The Married Man Podcast," and their writings and videos on Yublog and NuDia.tv.

"The Transmission," created by the husband-and-wife duo of Ryan and Jen Ozawa, will also continue beyond the run of the TV show, at least for a little while. The couple, who live in Hawaii and have brought a local flavor in terms of identifying locations and sightings of film shoots, will do wrap-up of the final "Lost" episode on May 30th, and a show covering the entire series sometime after they. They've indicated they may do some future "Lost" re-watch podcasts, and they emphasize that their blog at "The Transmission" Web site will remain up for viewer/listener comments.

Ryan and Jen also do the "Hawaii Up" podcast, and this summer will be starting up a new pop-culture podcast called "Popspotting" that will cover movies, books, TV, and music.

While I'll miss having these podcasts to analyze each new episode of "Lost," I'm glad to know I'll still be able to hear the familiar voices of these podcasters on a regular basis. It's good to see that they've gotten some well-deserved attention in the mass media in recently articles on the ending of "Lost," including the L.A. Times (Jay and Jack) and the New York Times (Ryan and Jen).

And of course there's plenty of speculating on what will be in the "Lost" finale, as addressed in questions to executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

The two-and-a-half-hour "Lost" finale airs at 9 p.m. Eastern, but will be preceded by two hours of recap shows.

And now, in honor of the "Lost" finale, some random lost wackiness that I've encountered on the Web the last few days:
* a photo gallery of "Lost" cakes
* Kevin Garnett explains the island to teammate "Big Baby" Davis on the Celtics' bench:

'Lost' audio: Garnett explains the island to 'Big Baby' from The Basketball Jones on Vimeo.

* the entire "Lost" series, explained in one minute by cats:

Jonas Brothers Concerts (Including a Free Show Tomorrow): Camp Rock Invades New York

Above: The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, stars of the forthcoming movie "Camp Rock 2," are performing a free show in New York Friday morning and two shows in the area this summer. Photo Copyright (c) Garry Knight. 

Normally I wouldn't write about the Jonas Brothers, but the fact that they are 1) hugely popular, 2) from New Jersey, and 3) performing shows in their home stomping grounds has convinced me to post about their upcoming shows. (That and the fact that a few of my friends have tween daughters who are huge Jonas Brothers fans.)

First off, the Jonas Brothers are performing a free show tomorrow as part of the Good Morning America concert series in Central Park. Also on the bill are Demi Lovato and others from the cast of the "Camp Rock 2," the widely anticipated new Disney movie. See the link above for details on the what, where, and when of the GMA concerts.

If you (or your kids) aren't into getting to Central Park at 6 a.m. for a free show, the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and the "Camp Rock 2" gang have two paying shows (so far) scheduled for the NYC area this summer. The Jonas Brothers/Camp Rock 2 show comes to PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, NJ) on Monday, Aug. 16 and to the Jones Beach Theatre - Saturday, Aug 21.

Tickets for both shows go on sale this Saturday May 22nd at 10 a.m.

NBC Today Show Concert Series - Free Concerts in Rockefeller Center

The other day I posted the schedule for the Good Morning America free concerts in Central Park; here is the listing for the Today Show free concert series (which takes place outside NBC's Rockefeller Center studios). The series has already featured two concerts (including Sting last week).

Here are the upcoming performances in the Today Show free concert series:
* Friday, May 21 - The Script
* Friday, May 28 - OneRepublic
* Thursday, June 3 - "American Idol" winner and runner-up
* Friday, June 4 - Justin Bieber
* Tuesday, June 8 - Christina Aguilera

* Friday, June 11 - Rascal Flatts 

* Friday, June 18 - James Taylor & Carole King
* Friday, June 25 - Maxwell
* Friday, July 2- Maroon 5
* Friday, July 9 - Lady Gaga
* Friday, July 16 - Enrique Iglesias
* Friday, July 23 - John Mayer
* Friday, July 30 - Carrie Underwood
* Friday, August 6 - Train
* Friday, August 13 - Ke$ha
* Friday, August 20 - Keith Urban
* Friday, August 27 - Katy Perry

Notes from the Today Show concert series Web site: Viewing is on a first-come, first-served basis outside Today's window-on-the-world studio, located at 49th Street and Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Fans should arrive by 6 a.m. for best viewing.

Austin City Limits Festival (ACL Festival) Lineup Announced; Tickets On Sale Now

The lineup for the 2010 Austin City Limits Festival (ACL Festival) was announced today, and tickets are now on sale. The festival takes place in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas from October 8th to 10th.

Three-day passes are already sold out; single-day passes went on sale at 10 a.m. are available for each day at $85 per day. (Link to buy ACL Festival tickets.)

Headliners for the 2010 ACL Festival include The Eagles, Muse, Phish, The Strokes, M.I.A., and Flaming Lips. (Full 2010 ACL Festival lineup by day.) Here are the top 10 acts performing each day, as listing on the daily schedule:

Friday:
Phish, The Strokes, Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Sonic Youth, The Black Keys, Broken Bells, Slightly Stoopid, Beach House, The Sword

Saturday:
Muse, M.I.A., LCD Soundysystem, Monsters of Folk, Deadmau5, Gogol Bordello, Pat Green, Matt and Kim, The xx, The Temper Trap

Sunday:
The Eagles, Flaming Lips, Norah Jones, Band of Horses, The National, Robert Earl Keen, Yeasayer, Rebelution, Portugal. The Man, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

You can follow updates from the 2010 ACL Festival at its Twitter page, @ACLFestival.

Free Live Music: Good Morning America Concert Series Begins This Week

If you like seeing live music free and don't mind getting up early in the morning, check out the mini-concerts offered by two of the big networks' national morning shows.

Tomorrow I'll list the concerts for the Today Show, but today here's the schedule for the "Good Morning America" summer concert series, which begins this week with teen favorites the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, performing songs from the forthcoming Disney movie "Camp Rock 2."

The free GMA concerts are held in Rumsey Playfield in Central Park (the location for the SummerStage shows) and take place between 7 and 9 a.m. The venue opens at 6 a.m. (You can take the number 6 train to 68th or 77th Streets and enter Central Park at 69th Street and 5th Avenue. From the West Side, the closest subway stops are the 72nd Street stations on the B or C train.)

Although only a few songs will be broadcast on the TV show, you'll see more songs if you're there in person. You may also here a song twice, as the performers rehearse. Here's the "Good Morning America" free summer concert series schedule (all concerts are on Fridays):

* May 21 - Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, Camp Rock 2
* May 28 - Sugarland
* June 4 - Diddy- Dirty Money
* June 11 - Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan
* June 18 - Miley Cyrus
* June 25 - Alicia Keys
* July 2 - Mary J. Blige
* July 9 - To Be Announced
* July 16 - The Go-Go'S
* July 23 - Sheryl Crow
* July 30 - Black Eyed Peas
* Aug 6 - To Be Announced
* Aug 13 - Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, Camp Rock 2
* Aug 20 - Rihanna
* Aug 27 - Lady Antebellum

Get Tickets for the Nashville Rising Concert, 6/22 - Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and More

An all-star group of the hottest names in country music are getting together for "Nashville Rising," a one-time-only concert to benefit the recovery efforts in Nashville after the historic flooding there earlier this month. Tickets went on sale May 14th, and you buy Nashville Rising concert tickets here.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are spearheading the Nashville Rising concert, which also features a stellar lineup of today's country stars: Taylor Swift, Brooks and Dunn, Amy Grant, Leann Rimes, Miranda Lambert, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Martina McBride, Miley Cyrus, and more. Additional acts will be named later.

The Nashville Rising concert takes place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and benefits the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

For more information about Nashville Rising concert and the organization, see www.nashvillerising.org. If you can't be at the concert, you can still make a contribution to help get Nashville back on its feet.

"Twilight: Eclipse" Soundtrack Tunes Coming Out, Drip by Drip

Guess it's fitting that the list of songs to be on the "Twilight: Eclipse" soundtrack are being slowly leaked out, one drop at a time, like blood from a vampire's fangs. "The official reveal of the Eclipse soundtrack"is a MySpace blog page where the songs and artists are being announced one at a time.

It's a pretty cool collection of indie artists. Here are the titles known so far (5 p.m. Eastern time, May 12th); check the Eclipse soundtrack reveal page (again and again, it seems) for the latest additions until that baby is filled up. One song is to be revealed per hour, it seems. UPDDATE: All complete now:

1. Metric – “Eclipse (All Yours)”
2. Sia – “My Love”
3. The Bravery – “Ours”
4. Florence + The Machine – “Heavy In Your Arms”
5. Muse – “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)”
6. Fanfarlo – “Atlas”
7. The Black Keys – “Chop And Change”
8. The Dead Weather – “Rolling In On A Burning Tire”
9. Beck and Bat For Lashes – “Let’s Get Lost”
10. Vampire Weekend – “Jonathan Low”
11. UNKLE – “With You In My Head (featuring The Black Angels)”
12. Eastern Conference Champions – “A Million Miles An Hour”
13. Band Of Horses – “Life On Earth”
14. Cee-Lo Green – “What Part Of Forever”
15. Howard Shore – “Jacob’s Theme”

"Cherry Bomb" - Performed Live by Cherie Currie, Kathy Valentine, and Others

Here's a great video of female rockers past and present: Cherie Currie, lead singer for The Runaways, singing the band's hit "Cherry Bomb" live in concert with a band including Kathy Valentine and Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Go's (Valentine to Currie's left; Caffey to Currie's right).

This performance was part of a concert in L.A. last week to benefit MusiCares.

Cherie Currie hasn't been doing much in terms of music these days, as far as I know. She's made appearances to promote "The Runaways" movie and her recently reissued memoir, "Neon Angel," but other than that has been pursuing her current work as a chainsaw wood-carving artist.

Kathy Valentine is now gearing up for what is billed as the Go-Go's farewell tour. She also plays with the all-female Texas band the BlueBonnets, and works as a producer with other female musicians, most notable the trio Adrian and the Sickness.

Lady Gaga American Extends North American Tour Through Early 2011

Lady Gaga is keeping the North American leg of her "Fame Monster" tour going through the first months of next year, the performer posted this morning on her MySpace blog. The announcement says in part:

"The 2011 North American Monster Ball Tour, produced globally by Live Nation, will begin on February 19th, 2011 at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, taking her spectacular show to top arenas and a host of new cities. Semi Precious Weapons have opened all dates for Lady Gaga’s 2010 tour and will join her again in 2011. Tickets go on sale beginning May 14, 2010 at LiveNation.com."

There's a presale starting tomorrow; the blog post says: "Citi® cardmembers will also have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, May 11th, at 10am local time through Citi's Private Pass® Program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com." For regular public on-sale dates, check livenation.com/gaga for details. Here's a list of the dates so far (more may be added):

February 19 - Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall / On sale May 14
February 26 - Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Center / On sale May 14

March 3 - Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre / On sale May 17

March 8 - Boston, MA TD Garden / On sale May 14

March 25 - Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand / On sale May 15

April 8 - Houston, TX Toyota Center / On sale May 14

April 9 - New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena / On sale May 15

April 12 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL Bank Atlantic Center / On sale May 17

April 13 - Miami, FL American Airlines Arena / On sale May 17

April 18 - Atlanta, GA Gwinnett Center / On sale May 14

The Go-Go's Announce Farewell Tour - Dates

Above: Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock (drums), and Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's performing in Antone's in Austin, Texas in 2008. The Go-Go's embark on what they are calling their farewell tour this summer. Photo: Flickr user Ron Baker (Kingsnake).

Legendary all-female rockers the Go-Go's recently announced that this summer they'll be embarking on  "Happily Ever After - The Farewell Tour." Always one of my favorites, the Go-Go's formed in L.A. in the late 1970s, breaking new ground with their 1981 double-platinum album "Beauty and the Beat," which became the first album by an all-female band that wrote and performed its own songs to hit the top of the Billboard charts. (Go-Go's farewell tour press release.)

This isn't the first time the Go-Go's have reunited for a tour; I was lucky to see them in Central Park a number of years ago, when they were promoting their last new studio album, "God Bless the Go-Go's." The band also did a 25th anniversary tour of "Beauty and the Beat" in which they performed the entire album in sequence.

The Go-Go's farewell tour features the classic lineup of Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Kathy Valentine, Charlotte Caffey, and Gina Schock. Go-Go's tickets are on sale now.

The Go-Go's farewell tour dates:
July 7 San Diego, CA - Lilith Fair
July 8 Phoenix, AZ - Lilith Fair
July 10 Tampa, FL - Tampa Bay Rays
July 11 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
July 14 Portsmouth, VA - nTelos Pavilion
July 15 Morristown, NJ - Mayo Center for the Arts
July 16 New York, NY - Good Morning America
July 17 Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
July 19 Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap
July 20 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
July 22 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
July 24 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
July 26 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
July 27 Austin, TX - Paramount Theater 

If you want to keep up with the Go-Go's on Twitter, you can follow the band's account (@officialgogos) or members Belinda Carlisle (@belindaofficial), Jane Wiedlin (@janewiedlin), and Kathy Valentine (@kathy_valentine).

New York Concerts on Sale: The National, MGMT, 50 Cent, the Go-Go's, Shakira, Roger Waters, More

Above: The National plays at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 15th. Photo: Flickr user realname. 

As if it weren't enough that the schedules for the Central Park SummerStage and Celebrate Brooklyn free concerts were announced this week, there are still more shows going on sale for the summer and beyond. Here's a look at some of the popular or interesting ones that will be on sale this week, listed by date tickets go on sale:

On sale Fri., May 7:
* The National (Red Hot benefit) - Brooklyn Academy of Music, Gilman Opera House - Sat., May 15 (on sale: 10 a.m.) 
* 50 Cent - Hammerstein Ballroom - Tues., June 22 (on sale: 12 Noon)
* Natalie Merchant - Town Hall - Thurs., July 15 (on sale: 12 Noon)
* The Go Go's, The Farewell NYC Concert - Irving Plaza - Tues., July 20 (on sale: 10 a.m.)
* Built To Spill - Irving Plaza - Wed., July 28 (on sale: 12 Noon)
* Primus / Gogol Bordello - Williamsburg Waterfront - Friday, July 30 (on sale: 12 Noon)
* The Death Weather - Prospect Park Bandshell, Celebrate Brooklyn benefit - Tues., Aug. 3 (on sale: 12 Noon)
* Gov't Mule - Central Park Summerstage benefit - Wed., Aug. 11 (on sale: 12 Noon)
* Barenaked Ladies with Ben Kweller and Angel Taylor - Radio City Music Hall - Fri., Aug 13 (on sale: 11 a.m.)
* MGMT, Francis and the Lights - Radio City Music Hall - Tues., Aug. 17 (on sale: 9 a.m.) 
* Counting Crows with Augustana & other special guests - Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ - Tues. & Wed., Aug. 17 & 18 (on sale: 12 Noon)
* Shakira - Madison Square Garden - Tues., Sept. 21 - (on sale: 10 a.m.)
* OK Go - Terminal 5 - Fri., Oct. 29 (on sale: 12 Noon)

On sale Sat., May 8:
* Taking Back Sunday - Irving Plaza - Wed., June 23 (on sale: 10 a.m.)
* Widespread Panic - Radio City Music Hall - Thurs., Jul 22 (on sale: 10 a.m.)
* Paramore - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater - Fri., Aug. 6 (on sale: 10 a.m.)

On sale Mon., May 10:
* Roger Waters: The Wall Live - Madison Square Garden - Tues., Oct. 5 (on sale: 10 a.m.)
* Roger Waters: The Wall Live - Nassau Coliseum - Tues., Oct. 12 (on sale: 10 a.m.)

* Roger Waters: The Wall Live - IZOD Center - Wed., Nov. 3 (on sale: 10 a.m.)

Celebrate Brooklyn Announces 2010 Free Concert Schedule

The two biggest free-concert series in New York, SummerStage and Celebrate Brooklyn, have both released their summer 2010 schedules. I listed some SummerStage highlights yesterday, and now here is the full Celebrate Brooklyn schedule of free concerts.

All shows are free, though attendees are encouraged to kick in a suggested donation of $3.00. Concerts are held at the Prospect Park bandshell. Weeknight shows begin at times from 7 - 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday shows usually begin at 3 or 4 p.m., though shows with many acts may start as early as 2 p.m. As always, see the complete 2010 Celebrate Brooklyn schedule for times, schedule changes, directions, and more.

Celebrate Brooklyn 2010 free concert schedule:
* Wed., June 9 -  Opening Night Gala - Norah Jones
* Sat., June 12 - Allen Toussaint, Davell Crawford
* Thurs., June 17 - Eugene Mirman & Pretty Good Friends
* Fri., June 18 - JG Thirlwell's Steroid Maximus, Dr. Lonnie Smith
* Sat., June 19 - Bitches Brew Revisited with Graham Haynes, James Blood Ulmer, DJ Logic and more
* Thurs., June 24 - Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club® featuring Omara Portuondo / Nelida Tirado
* Fri., June 25 - Kid Koala: Short Attention Span Theater vs. The Slew / Hess Is More
* Sat., June 26 - Texas Tornados, Red Clay Ramblers
* Thurs., July 1 - Zoom: Zvidance, Son Lux with Lottdance
* Fri., July 2 - Fab 5, Uzalo
* Thurs., July 8 - Itutu: Armitage Gone! Dance featuring Burkina Electric
* Fri., July 9 - Ozomatli, Fidel Nadal / Toy Selectah
* Sun., July 11 - OkayAfrica with The Roots, Talib Kweli and more
* Sat., July 17 - African Festival with Konono No. 1, Omar Pene, Super Diamono and more
Thurs., July 22 - The Chaplin Mutuals: Carl Davis / The Two Man Gentlemen Band (Music & Movies, with Brooklyn Philharmonic)
* Fri., July 23 Bomba Estereo, La Secta Allstar / Rita Indiana
* Sat., July 24 - Field of Dreams (Un Mundo Nuevo): Andres Levin & The Bruce High Quality Foundation
* Thurs., July 29 - MI21: Mother India 21st Century Remix with DJ Tigerstyle / Falu (Music & Movies)
* Fri., July 30 - The Swell Season, The Low Anthem
* Sat., July 31 - Sonic Youth, Grass Widow / Talk Normal
* Thurs., August 5 - Metric, Joan as Police Woman / Holly Miranda
* Fri., August 6 - House of Usher: Marco Benevento, White Magic (Music & Movies)
* Sat., August 7 - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Budos Band and more
* Sun., August 8 - Brady Rymer, Elizabeth Mitchell (family concert)

Celebrate Brooklyn is also holding four benefit shows to raise funds for the program: Passion Pit, June 29 (sold out); Rufus Wainwright, July 20; The National, July 27 (sold out); and The Dead Weather, July 27.

Central Park Summerstage Announces Full Schedule; Expands Beyond Manhattan

The City Parks Foundation announced the 2010 Central Park SummerStage schedule, and it has some big things planned for the 25th anniversary of the free-concerts program. For one thing, it's expanding beyond its home in Central Park. As the schedule says, the Foundation has "launched a major re-branding of the festival to include music, dance, film and theater performances in all five boroughs."

The 2010 SummerStage season begins on Tuesday, June 1st with a show by jazz-pop singer Melody Gardot and the New York Pops in Central Park. The full 2010 SummerStage schedule in PDF form is available now; the SummerStage Web site doesn't yet have all the dates filled in (it says it is launching the new Web site on May 15th).

While most of the shows are free (such as all of the ones below), there are also a number of great benefit shows that support the free programs. Some of the artists doing SummerStage benefit shows are The Black Keys, Gov't Mule, Pavement, and the John Butler Trio (these are listed in the SummerStage schedule PDF, too).

Shows on weekday evenings usually start between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; weekend shows are 3 or 4 p.m.

Among the free shows on this year's program (see the complete SummerStage schedule for full listing and descriptions):

* Wed., 6/2: Roy Ayers with DJ Jon Quick (Betsy Head Park, Brooklyn)
* Sat., 6/5 Living Colour, Ebony Bones!, Pillow Theory, and CX KiDTRONiK: 25th anniv. of Black Rock Coalition (Central Park)
* Thurs., 6/10: Hezekiah Walker (Von King Park, Brooklyn)
* Wed., 6/16: Big Daddy Kane with DJ Jon Quick (Von King Park, Brooklyn)
* Thurs., 6/17: The Felix Hernandez Rhythm Review (Betsy Head Park, Brooklyn)
* Sat., 6/26: Tinariwen, Omar Souleyman, and Toubab Krewe (Central Park)
* Wed., 6/30: Nuyorican Poets Cafe (Central Park)
* Sun., 7/11: Jimmy Cliff, Trevor Hall, and Victor Démé (Central Park)
* Thurs., 7/15: EPMD and Funkmaster Flex (Queensbridge Park)
* Wed., 7/21: Comedy Central Park: The Daily Show and Friends. Hosted by Lewis Black with John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Wyatt Cenac, Adam Lowitt, and Rory Albanese (Central Park)
* Fri., 7/23: The Main Ingredient with Cuba Gooding Sr. (Rochdale Park, Brooklyn)
* Sun., 8/1: St. Vincent, tUnE-yArDs, and Basia Bulat (Central Park)
* Thurs., 8/5: Gil Scott-Heron (Marcus Garvey Park)
* Sun., 8/8: The xx, Chairlift, and Jack Peñate (Central Park)
* Wed., 8/11: Doug E. Fresh and DJ Dee Wiz (Jackie Robinson Park)
* Sun., 8/15: Public Enemy with 7th Octave and Blitz the Ambassador (Central Park)
* Thurs., 8/19: Our Latin Thing with DJ Lucho: A Tribute to The Fania All-Stars (East River Park)
* Sat., 8/28: The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival featuring McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Scott, Jason Moran, and the Bandwagon and Revive da Live: Charlie Parker Revisited (Marcus Garvey Park)

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from The Dead Weather, Toni Braxton, The National, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, More

Here is this week's selection of free album previews available online. As usual, the Spinner.com and AOL Music releases don't seem to have a set period of time they're available for streaming, so you might want to check them out first in case they disappear without notice. The NPR First Listen previews are up for a set time period (and sometimes a day after the specified date).

Spinner.com's Listening Party currently features about 20 albums including:
* "Latin" by Holy F*ck
* "Friday Night Lights Original Soundtrack, Vol. 2" by various artists
* "Omni" by Minus the Bear
* "A Balloon Called" by The Joy Formidable
* "Court Yard Hounds" by Court Yard Hounds (Martie Maguire & Emily Robison from the Dixie Chicks)
* "Still Here" by the Temptations
* "Live at the Troubadour" by James Taylor & Carole King
* "Uni5" by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
* "Take a Bow" by Greg Laswell

AOL Music, which runs Spinner, has a slightly different selection of free album previews on its own site, including:
* "Pulse" by Toni Braxton
* "I Rhyme with Orange" by Christa Borden

NPR First Listen is now featuring:
* "This is Happening" by LCD Soundsystem (streaming until May 18)
* "Cosmogramma" by Flying Lotus (streaming May 3 to 11)
* "Sea of Cowards" by The Dead Weather (streaming May 3 to 11)
* "High Violet" by The National (streaming May 3 to 11) (only two songs are still streaming at NYTimes Web site)
(Free album previews for Josh Ritter, the New Pornographers, and Kris Kristofferson are still up until May 9.)